Alabama to Hold Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday

Alabama will be holding its second annual “Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday” this February, 2013, beginning 12:01am on the 22nd and ending at midnight on the 24th. During that time consumers will be able to buy “covered items” costing $60 or less without paying any state sales tax. That includes standard emergency-related goods like smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and duct tape, as well as some less obvious things like cell phone batteries and chargers. For certain big ticket items like refrigerators and power generators the price limit is raised to $1000.

Consumers may also avoid paying city and county level sales taxes. The way the Sales Tax Holiday is set up, every city and county in Alabama is given the opportunity to participate. If a city or county opts in, the same purchases that are exempt from state level sales taxes will also be exempt from local sales taxes. If a city or county opts out, or if it simply does not notify Alabama’s department of revenue, the local sales tax rate will remain at its usual level.

Cities and counties have a third option as well. Instead of signaling a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’, they may participate in the Sales Tax Holiday on a limited basis. So far we have seen two examples of this. St. Clair County exempted covered purchases from just 1% of its total 2% County sales tax rate, and Russell County extended the Sales Tax Holiday to only its unincorporated areas.

Keep an eye out for participating jurisdictions. Thomson Reuters will continue to update its content as more cities and counties decide whether to participate in this February’s Sales Tax Holiday.